Fixed prime focal lengths

L

Legion6789

Active member
What are the most common fixed prime lens focal lengths you find yourself using most of the time? I'm not concerned with a specific brand or model, just the focal length. Let's say you can only pick 3, and you're using them for movies, so no documentaries, no interviews.
 
On full frame, for me, that would be 50mm, 90mm, 28mm, in that order. 135mm would come next.
 
24, 35,50,85

35 is a must. It's closest to what we see. 24 is perfect for landscape,astro and wide shots. 85 great for portraits.

So if I could only have three its 24, 35 and 85
 
My advice, take it or leave it.... Invest in a smartphone app like pCAM before you start buying lenses. It has a bunch of useful cinematography tools, including lens data for the camera you choose. Second, consider purchasing a fast zoom rather than prime lenses at this point. Reasoning... If you know so little about lens selection that you would let strangers on the Internet pick which lenses you are going to purchase to shoot a movie with, then it makes more sense to get a zoom and learn for yourself which focal lengths work best for your shooting style.

All the best!

Dave
 
Call me old fashioned but the 50 and 85 are my favorite whenever Im doing formal interviews

The 24-105 f4 is amazing for run and gun stuff. It amazes me how I went so long using the 18-55.
 
David W. Jones said:
My advice, take it or leave it.... Invest in a smartphone app like pCAM before you start buying lenses. It has a bunch of useful cinematography tools, including lens data for the camera you choose. Second, consider purchasing a fast zoom rather than prime lenses at this point. Reasoning... If you know so little about lens selection that you would let strangers on the Internet pick which lenses you are going to purchase to shoot a movie with, then it makes more sense to get a zoom and learn for yourself which focal lengths work best for your shooting style.

All the best!

Dave
Click to expand...

I'll take a look at pCAM. As for the lenses, I was more curious to see which ones tended to be the workhorses in people's collections, than looking for buying advice.
 
Legion6789 said:
I'll take a look at pCAM. As for the lenses, I was more curious to see which ones tended to be the workhorses in people's collections, than looking for buying advice.
Click to expand...

Well that was the reason I suggested what I did. Just because shooter X likes to use a 35mm, doesn't mean that you will as well. A fast zoom will let you experience firsthand how different focal lengths look in various size sets or locations. For what it's worth, I have lenses from 11mm up to 300mm and they are all workhorses depending on the job. If I had to pick only 3 lenses, I would pick 3 zooms which would cover my full shooting range rather than 3 prime lenses. I know this is likely not what you wanted to hear, but maybe another inexperienced shooter reading this will find it useful.

All the best!

Dave
 
This is great advice. I've been shooting for a few years but still very amature, and when I first started I bought a kit which included 3 primes (35mm, 50mm and a 85mm).

I only just bought a couple of zooms and am loving the freedom to experiment with the ranges on the fly. It has given me a much better appreciation of focal lengths and which to use.
 
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